Education in Honduras

Education in Honduras is free and compulsory for six years. In 1999, the gross primary enrollment rate was 97.3 percent and the net primary enrollment rate was 85.7 percent. Among working children, an estimated 34 percent complete primary school. A lack of schools prevents many children in Honduras from receiving an education, as do costs such as enrollment fees, school uniforms, and transportation costs.

Until the late 1950s, Honduras lacked a national education system. Before the reforms of 1957, education was the exclusive privilege of the upper class, who could afford to send their children to private institutions. It was only when the government of Ramón Villeda Morales (1957-63) introduced reforms that led to the establishment of a national public education system and began a school construction program, that education became accessible to the general population.